Movie and Fashion: an aesthetic intership that has become a classic.

Cinema often calls on the favors of fashion, such as Yves Saint Laurent who made the costumes for ‘Belle de Jour’, or the Armani suits made for “American gigolo” and “The Untouchables.”

In turn, designers put in their moodboards – more or less explicitly – the great cults of modern cinema.

Almost every Fashion Week, we witness the mise-en-scene of cinema as seen through the eyes of some designer, who pays homage to this or that film with the Main Theme during the fashion show, an iconic color palette, reinterpreting the stage costumes of the protagonists or through prints that reproduce some cult scenes.

We wanted to create a small list of the best Fashion shows and collections that took inspiration from cult movies. Discover them all.

Undercover FW18 – 2001: A Space Odyssey

Gucci FW15 – The Royal Tenenbaums

Gucci’s retro sartorial style found its ultimate expression by masterfully reinterpreting one of the most ironic – and iconic – films of modern cinema: The Royal Tenenbaums.

Alessandro Michele‘s dreamy – Kitsch vision has already been compared to Wes Anderson‘s cinematic universe – made up of meticulously studied palettes and vintage aestheticism.

The designer created a series of Margot Tenenbaum doppelgängers, complete with blond hair, vintage fur and loafers.

Raf Simons SS18 – Blade Runner

Under the Manhattan Bridge, with the background din of subway cars, Raf Simons presented his Spring 2018 collection under the name “Replicants,” of course, inspired by the Replicants from Blade Runner.

The fashion show was presented in a curtain of a Chinatown shopping mall, amid neon signs, fumes from manhole covers, and Chinese lanterns decorated with Joy Division and New Order graphics, while models paraded with umbrellas with handles illuminated with LED lights; umbrellas that have since become collectible pieces.

Simons decided to pay homage to one of his favorite films, but also to subcultures that have enriched the fashion landscape such as punk, new wave and New Romantics.

“Replicants” Spring 18 constitutes one of the most successful cinematic renditions in the fashion world, both in terms of the set – with attention to detail – and the collection.

Undercover FW19 – A Clockwork Orange

Jun Takahashi has always confirmed himself as an outsider designer: the catalog of his collections looks like an anthology of the thrillers that have made movie history.

From Space Odyssey to The Shining, all the way to A Clockwork Orange and Suspiria.

For the FW19 collection, the Japanese designer chose Kubrick’s masterpiece “A Clockwork Orange,” setting his fashion show in a large theater. The fashion show began with a beam of light in the hall and three masked models facing the audience, with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony – needless to say – playing in the background.

The models sported silhouettes with silkscreen prints of the fierce face of Alex, a role played by Malcolm McDowell, English “bowler hats” with feathers on the side in minstrel style, and Zuava pants from which the iconic Dr. Martens amphibians emerged.

The show ended with audio of the infamous “Singing in the rain” scene as six models masked in red spun around the room in a sort of dance-ritual.

Raf Simons FW18 – Christiane F. Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo.

The late 1970s aesthetic of the black novel “Christiane F.” was the point of reference for Raf Simons’ FW18 collection.

The cult film set in the former West Berlin train station of the same name was taken up by Simons to make “worn” jeans with patches, printed shirts and coats with patches. To emphasize the mood drama, the models also wore an equally than happy expression.

MSGM FW17 – Twin Peaks

Massimo Giorgetti, creative director of MSGM Milano, was a teenager when the first two seasons of Twin Peaks aired, and according to him, he was literally obsessed with its aesthetics and sets.
This will surely be the reason why he dedicated an entire collection to the iconic American series, studying the symbols and details as meticulously as possible.
The scenic rendering of the show was spooky to such an extent that it evoked the ambiguous and sinister settings of the series, complete with a black and white zig-zag striped carpet pattern.

The collection was an all-around riot: from pleated skirts to rabbit fur coats, tulle skirts were a reference to the late prom queen, Laura Palmer.

There were blue roses on the mood board and rose motifs on silk and velvet dresses, a reference to the “blue rose case,” or the code word for FBI special agents Dale Cooper and Chester Diamond.

Paco Rabanne AW19 – Mulholland Drive

Julien Dossena, creative director of Paco Rabanne, was inspired by the monumental Mulholland Drive for the FW19 collection. Directed by David Lynch, the film follows the life of a young woman who, after surviving a car accident along Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills, completely loses her memory.

From here emerges a surreal, neo-noir narrative that follows the character’s efforts to piece together the pieces of her mysterious life.

Dossena imagined the show’s setting as a luxury hotel lobby, in a fantasy land where “only the people you want to meet pass by.”  The collection consisted of art deco prints, animalier details on decadent dresses, capturing a very Lynchian sense of overwrought glamour.

Fluorescent chandeliers hung on the runway, looking as if they might collapse at any moment.

Undercover AW19 – Suspiria

Takahashi was inspired by Guadagnino’s 2018 “Suspiria” remake for the AW18 collection.

The film, which is an hour longer than the original version by the unmatched master Dario Argento, is an equally frightening and disturbing thriller that aptly picks up the legacy of the 1977 movie.

The Japanese designer even contacted Guadagnino to use stills from the film as part of the collection. Resulting in a collection somewhere between arthouse and streetwear, featuring “pulp” screen prints on trapeze dresses, blouson hoodies.

Deserve a mention in this list:

Undercover SS 2019 inspired by “The Warriors” 1979 directed by Walter Hill

Anna Sui FW 2014 – Grand Budapest Hotel

Let us know what your favorite fashion show is!